Quick service restaurants are migrating from assisted service order entry to self-service order entry where the customer uses a self-service terminal or device to enter their order. Self-service terminals provide an efficient low cost alternative to employee assisted order entry. Since self-service terminals do not require a dedicated employee for each terminal, a restaurant that uses self-service terminals will typically have more terminals available for order entry than a restaurant using only assisted order entry. Having more self-service terminals causes the queue for each terminal to have fewer people and allows more orders to be entered per unit of time. Once an order (and payment) has been taking, the order is sent to the kitchen to be prepared and then to order fulfillment. The customer waits at a counter for the order to be fulfilled and presented for pickup.
Problems arise when the rate of order entry exceeds the capacity of the kitchen to prepare the ordered food in an acceptable period of time. When this situation occurs, customers move quickly through the order entry queue only to spend time waiting for their order at the counter. When the time spent by the customer waiting for the order is long, it creates a negative impression of the purchase experience. In addition, because the kitchen is attempting to operate beyond its capacity, preparation and order fulfillment mistakes increase, which causes even longer wait times, increased product waste and increased customer dissatisfaction, which damages the restaurant's brand image.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus, system and method for using self-service order entry without the above limitations.